. >>> we'll turn now to if fiscal cliff, 30 days from an economy-crippling deadline. yet talks seem to be going nowhere. treasury secretary timothy geithner will be the guest on "this week" with george stephanopoulos. >> last weekend, you sat right here and you said you were reasonably optimistic that a deal could be afoot. in the intervening week, lot of trash-talking from both sides, can we still be somewhat hopeful? >> this week was a rough week in these negotiations. treasury secretary geithner when he went up to capitol hill, mitch mcconnell laughed when they got the offer from geithner. house speaker boehner said that the talks are at a stalemate. democrats said they're not going to make another move until republicans say they're going to go for an increase in tax rates. so, this is stalemate right now. now, these things always look horrible when they come together. more and more voices say, this is going to go over the fiscal cliff at least for a few days in january. >> if we go over the fiscal cliff, voters will likely blame the republicans for that. is is tha